First, shoutout to my home state of Rhode Island! Hardly any books are set in the smallest state in the union, and I love that The Study of Animal Languages was set so close to where I grew up. Even though it wasn’t all geographically accurate, it still brought me closer to the story. I l also oved the actual info on animal languages (however sparse), how animals communicate. I liked that the resolution felt realistic.

But overall I struggled with this. It was uneven. There were times where something intense happened and I couldn’t read fast enough for about ten pages. But more often it was slow, dense, and/or wordy. I don’t usually have a problem with big words in a book (I usually learn something!) but the big words used here were...I don’t know if they were supposed to show how some of the characters struggled to relate to others? If it was a plot device it didn’t work for me. It made it harder to read and didn’t serve the story enough to outweigh the struggle in reading it. The book also sometimes got too deep into the weeds of science or academia or other complicated things, without serving the story or the reader’s experience.

Had such a cool morning seeing Chelsea Clinton talk about wildlife, conservation, and her new book, Don’t Let Them Disappear. I’m so impressed with her understanding of the complexities of conservation, and the important roles that zoos play in protecting species. Check out this great book for the little animal lovers in your life. 🦈
PS—Her 4-year-old daughter is obsessed with sharks. She asked why there weren’t more sharks in the book, and was told that different people like different things, and not everyone loves sharks as much as she does. She replied, “Well, they should.” She was told that then that was her job, to get other people to love and care about sharks, and tell their stories. I mean like does Chelsea Clinton want a job bc I’m feeling a little threatened 🐘🦏🦍🦒🦛🦓🦈🦈🦈 #endextinction #dontletthemdisappear #chelseaclinton #sandiegozoo

I like to *Austin Powers’ air quotes* “help” at Learn To Row because hey, free sunset boat ride #teamplayer #zlac